A suicide bomber dressed as a police officer killed 21 officers when he blew himself up on Monday in southern Afghanistan.

The Afghan Interior Ministry confirmed the attacker was wearing a police uniform that allowed him to infiltrate the police compound in Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province.

"This allowed him to get through security and to get to the compound where Afghan National Police officers were training, doing their morning exercises," said CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from Afghanistan.

"It was there that he detonated his payload, killing a number of officers along with himself."

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also injured at least 20 soldiers.

Chao said NATO troops, including a large contingent of Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan, have gotten increasingly better at preventing suicide attacks, drastically reducing the number of successful hits in 2008.

"That being said the Afghan National Police are one of the biggest targets for suicide mobers as well as the Taliban because they're considered a soft target," Chao said.

"They're not as well trained as the Afghan army, they're not as well armed as the NATO troops and so the Taliban continue to hit them."

In 2008, roughly 868 Afghan police officers were killed in insurgent attacks, according to a tally of figures collected by The Associated Press.

More than 900 police were killed in 2007.

Chao said the continued violence is taking a toll on Afghans.

"There's a sense of resignation, a sense that the taliban continues to grow in strength. Whether it's real or perceived, many Afghans have a sense of hopelessness, a feeling that the government here is simply not getting a handle on reducing the violence."